Hamlet’s Polonius: A Caricature of Sir William Cecil
Boston, MA
Introduction
It has been pointed out by Shakespeare scholars that Polonius is a caricature of Sir William Cecil. This is evidenced in his position at court, his maxims, and his use of spies. Those who deny this are in the minority. Stratfordians remain at a loss to explain the link between William Shakspere and the most powerful man in England. When viewed through an Oxfordian lens, however, everything falls into place.
Position at Court
Sir William Cecil was made Queen Elizabeth’s sole secretary when she became queen in 1558. He became Baron Burghley in 1571 and then lord high treasurer (Beckingsale). For nearly forty years, he remained the Queen’s chief minister and counselor.
In Hamlet, the position of Polonius is much the same. The Dramatis Personae states, Polonius, father of Ophelia and Laertes, councillor to King Claudius (Folger). Polonius describes himself in Act II, Scene II,
“I hold my duty, as I hold my soul,
Both to my God and to my gracious king” (Shakespeare 681)
Precepts
Martin Hume, Burghley’s biographer, stated, “these precepts inculcate moderation and virtue, here and there Cecil’s own philosophy peeps out” (Looney 402). The similarities between the precepts of Burghley and Polonius are too close to be coincidental:
BURGHLEY:
Be not scurrilous in conversation, or satirical in thy jests
POLONIUS:
Give thy thoughts no tongue, nor any unproportion’d thought his act … be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
BURGHLEY:
Let thy kindred and allies be welcome to thy house and table. Grace them with thy countenance … But shake off those glow-worms, I mean parasites and sycophants, who will feed and fawn upon thee in the summer of prosperity…
POLONIUS:
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel; but do not dull thy palm with entertainment of each new hatch’d unfledged comrade.
BURGHLEY:
Neither borrow of a neighbor or of a friend, but of a stranger, whose paying for it thou shalt hear no more of it … Trust not any man with thy life credit, or estate.
POLONIUS:
Neither a borrower nor a lender be; for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry (Whittemore).
Use of Spies
The reign of Elizabeth I was also an era of espionage. There were numerous attempts made on Elizabeth’s life. Francis Walsingham and Burghley relied on spies to inform them of internal and external threats.
The Stratfordian Explanation
The Stratfordian or orthodox explanation for this satire is very telling. Mark Anderson in his essay claims the first to point out that Polonius was a cariciture of Burghley was George Russell French in his 1869 book Shakespeareana Genealogica:
The next important personages in the play are the “Lord Chamberlain,” POLONIUS; his son, LAERTES; and daughter, OPHELIA; and these are supposed to stand for Queen Elizabeth’s celebrated Lord High Treasurer, Sir WILLIAM CECIL, Lord Burleigh; his second son, ROBERT CECIL; and his daughter, ANNE CECIL (French 301)
In all of his books on Shakespeare, James Shapiro never mentions it. In his book, Shakespeare, Michael Wood interestingly mentions Burghley several times but does not directly say that Polonius is a caricature. Professor Jonathon Bate of Oxford University stated,
“Polonius is not a cariciture of Lord Burghley or of anyone, because that simply wasn’t allowed.”
This is in contrast to Queen Elizabeth I, who after the Essex Rebellion in 1601 stated,
“I am Richard II! Know ye not that?”
The Oxfordian Explanation
Oxfordians have a much easier time documenting a relationship with Burghley than Stratfordians. Eddi Jolly, in his essay The Writing of Hamlet, said
It would be ironic if the library of ‘the Fishmonger Secretary of State,’ as Dover Wilson calls Burghley, had provided de Vere as playwright not only with the Seneca and Plautus that Polonius mentions, but also the satirical portrait of old men that Hamlet describes, those ‘Slanders’ that say ‘old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams.’ Certainly, de Vere’s acquaintance with Burghley was long; some thirty-four years. Modern editors tend not to discuss the possibility that Polonius is a caricature of Burghley, or else dismiss it with little discussion. Jenkins makes only two possible parallels between Polonius and Burghley before he dismisses it, namely the ‘precepts’ and the similar roles at court. But editors do comment that such precepts were available in for example, Lyly’s Euphues, or Henry Sidney’s advice to his son. John Lyly was an officer of de Vere, and he also managed his players, and Sidney was de Vere’s tennis and literary-group rival. De Vere was therefore also close to other sources for such precepts (Jolly 191).
It is interesting that he also notes the silence of orthodox scholars.
Supreme Court Justice John Stevens concluded, Polonius is unquestionably a caricature of Burghley. His position as advisor to the King, his physical appearance, his crafty use of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to try to ascertain the cause of Hamlet’s antic disposition, and his employment of Reynaldo to spy on his own son, Laertes, while away at school, are all characteristic of Burghley.
( Stritmatter 41)
Dr. Roger Stritmatter, formerly of the University of Massachusetts, said,
“How could William Shakspere have gotten away with satirizing the most powerful man in England, and treating him with such ritualistic contempt? Well, once you realize that Oxford was the author, and that he was William Cecil’s son-in-law, everything makes sense.”
Conclusion
The satire of Lord Burghley in Polonius is another piece of circumstancial evidence in support of the Oxfordian Theory of Shakespeare Authorship. Burghley’s position in the court of Elizabeth I and Polonius’ position in the court of King Claudius and Queen Gertrude are very similar. The precepts of the the real man and the fictional character can be judged as coming from the same pen. When taking into account the satirical nature of the work in conjunction with the police state that was Elizabethan England, it is not surprising that De Vere chose to publish under a nom de plume.
Works Cited
Alexander, Mark. Polonius as Lord Burghley. Sourcetext.com. Accessed July, 16, 2023.
Beckingsale, Bernard Winslow. William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. Encyclopeia Britannica. Accessed July 16, 2023.
Jolly, Eddi. The Writing of Hamlet from Great Oxford. De Vere Society, 2004. Print.
Looney, Thomas. Shakespeare Identified. Frederick A. Stokes Company,1920. Print.
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Works. Barnes and Noble Inc. 2015. Print.
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Folger Shakespeare Library. Accessed July 16, 2023.
Stritmatter, Roger. Edward de Vere’s Geneva Bible. Oxenford Press, 2015.
Wittemore, Hank. Hank Wittemore’s Shakespeare Blog. Accessed July 16, 2023.
